Ex-cop bound over for trial on more sex charges

A retired Warren police officer has been ordered to face trial for engaging in a sexual affair with a 16-year-old girl who attended a Warren high school where he had worked as a resource officer.

After listening to testimony Wednesday, 39th District Judge Marco Santia ruled there was enough evidence presented for Dale Wayne Malesh, 62, to be bound over to Macomb County Circuit Court on six counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. That offense is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The hearing included testimony from Warren Woods-Tower Principal Michael MacKenzie and teacher Carolyn Jennings. On the first day of the probable-cause hearing for Malesh earlier this month, the teenager testified and confirmed 10 dates between December 2012 and last March in which she claimed she had intercourse with Malesh at his Roseville home or at a local motel.

In his ruling, Santia said testimony indicated that Malesh served as a school resource officer for 12 years then retired but continued doing volunteer work at Warren Woods-Tower, located on Bunert Avenue, just north of 11 Mile Road.

While working in the school district, Malesh developed a relationship with the girl. Roseville police and the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office allege he had sex with the girl in January and on Feb. 6, Feb. 16, Feb. 17, March 1 and March 5.

In a separate but previous case, Malesh also is charged with having sex with the teenager four times in Warren. He was bound over in early June to face trial in Macomb County Circuit Court.

Malesh worked as a school liaison officer at Warren Woods-Tower High School from January 2011 to June 2012. As a member of the Warren Police Department, he worked as a school resource officer in Warren Woods from September 1999 to January 2011, when he retired from the force.

Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Nicole Blank said the age of consent in Michigan is 16 and prosecutors have based their case on a portion of the state criminal sexual conduct statute that prohibits a volunteer from using their role to access or establish a relationship with minors between the ages of 15-17 for sexual purposes.

Defense attorney Steve Kaplan, a former Macomb County assistant prosecutor, said Malesh was not serving as a volunteer for the school district when the alleged sexual incidents occurred. Kaplan argued that does not violate the statute.

“Even though consensual sexual activity between a 16- to 18- year-old student may be unsavory and repugnant to some people, such acts do not violate Michigan’s criminal laws unless the actor had been serving as a volunteer or employee of the district at the time,” Kaplan said.

Kaplan tried to convince Santia that Malesh had sexual relations with the girl after last serving as a volunteer for the school district.